


Rescuing Hrym

by bethany81707



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Baron Bartels, Flash Fic, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Murder, Negotiations, Referenced Nausea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29859801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethany81707/pseuds/bethany81707
Summary: Edelgard talks to the boy calling himself the Death Knight.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Jeritza von Hrym
Kudos: 7





	Rescuing Hrym

Ladislava couldn’t help but muster more than a shred of sympathy for the poor boy she was dragging to the Princess’s feet. She had arrived at the home of Baron Bartels to find it completely destroyed, Bartels himself reduced to bone and ash, several other corpses in only mildly less destructive positions, and at the centre of it all, a boy desperately crying for mercy.

“Mercie! Please, where’s Mercie? MERCIE!” he was still screaming, as a matter of fact. Hard to judge a murderer harshly when it was a boy younger than herself.

“If there’s any justice in Adrestia, you might find some in here,” Ladislava said, entering Princess Edelgard’s room. The girlish trimmings that once adorned this space were all crammed into the bin in the corner, but something still remained of the little girl that used to sleep here. Edelgard stood tall, proudly, and in complete antithesis to that former self.

“Welcome, Emile. Please, take a seat. Stand by, Ladislava,” Edelgard said. Ladislava stepped back, a hand reaching for her lance just in case, but Edelgard made no similar efforts to defend herself. As Emile took a seat at the table, Edelgard took her seat opposite, smiling as brightly as she ought to have. At the very least, the play had stopped the boy’s shouting.

“So, please share your side of the story. I trust you can gather I’ve heard other people’s sides already,” Edelgard asked.

“I didn’t mean to do it! It was the Death Knight!” Emile cried. Edelgard set a hand on his, and her other hand came to bring his head up.

“Do you happen to know how to talk to this Death Knight? His side of the story sounds interesting,” Edelgard said.

“ **Excellent. That would be me** ,” Emile said, his bawling disappearing on the spot, to be replaced with a maniacal demeanour. The tears that streaked down Emile’s face were still present, though, leaving the new figure standing and looking pitiable.

“Glad to meet you, Sir of Death. Now, I’m sure you heard me talking to Emile, so I don’t need to repeat myself,” Edelgard said, keeping her cool.

“ **Words are the weapons of the foolish. I crave blood** ,” Emile said.

“Well, I’m afraid you can’t have the fight with me you crave in a room this size, and I’d rather finish this appointment first, but perhaps an arm wrestle will satiate your thirst in the meantime?” Edelgard asked, putting her arm on the table. Emile glared at it for a half minute, before resuming his seat and taking it.

“Three, two, one,” Edelgard called, and both parties tensed up. Edelgard pulled ahead and dragged his arm to the table in a mere ten seconds.

“ **...I eagerly await the time I may see your hands on a real weapon** ,” Emile said.

“Did he tell you anything useful?” Emile asked, the youthful voice returned to him.

“...No, but I can tell a great deal from his mere existence. Baron Bartels must’ve done something significant to draw him from his slumber. He wasn’t known for his gift with a weapon,” Edelgard explained.

“He wanted to track down my sister so he could marry her!” Emile blurted out. Ladislava’s spine straightened upright, and it was clear that Edelgard had something of the same reaction.

“...How… how old is your sister?” Edelgard asked.

“Not too much more than a year older,” Emile said. It was fortunate that Edelgard’s skin, thanks to the combined efforts of makeup and her natural pallor, was already as pale as polished porcelain, because it was clear from the frown on her expression that it would’ve turned such had it been any darker.

“I assume he was motivated by his desire for additional power through his Crest?” Edelgard asked.

“He said Mummy was too old to give him children,” Emile added.

“Do you have a bucket of some description?” Ladislava asked.

“That door over there leads to my private bathroom,” Edelgard volunteered. Ladislava bolted into it, and Edelgard’s stunned shock prevented their conversation from drowning out the sounds of Ladislava’s retching.

“I’ll have to extend an apology cake to the poor maid who has to deal with that. Anyway, Emile, I have a proposition for you. First, I would like you to keep in mind that…  _ others _ in this capital might offer you life in prison at best for killing a noble,” Edelgard explained, once Ladislava had returned and she had recovered her own voice.

“I’d deserve it. It’s a terrible thing to take a life,” Emile said. Edelgard muttered something that was very definitely a disagreement and Emile resolved to pretend not to know as much.

“I have a vested interest in… removing a few nobles from power here in Adrestia. But killing them would be unsatisfying and solve very little. I want to make it so that the nobility not only isn’t the sort of people who would commit such monstrosity and perversity in the name of Crests, but I want to make it so that the nobility does not even exist to make the attempt. And in order to do that, I might need to have a... small bodycount. Will you provide me with the muscle I need to claim enough victory to snowball to my goal?” Edelgard asked. Emile was not the only one considering her offer.

“...I accept. On the condition that, once this world of yours is within your grasp, that you give me the tools to handle the Death Knight,” Emile said.

“I was hoping I could do something about him sooner, but I’m not sure how to go about that. Besides, he’d probably come in handy,” Edelgard said.

“ **Talk is meaningless. Is it time to fight now** ?” the Death Knight asked.

“Indeed it is. Let’s go,” Edelgard said. Ladislava stepped forward.

“I would humbly request that you count my own spear amongst your number, Lady Edelgard. I will support your efforts in any way I can,” she said.

“You’re more than welcome,” Edelgard said, beaming brightly.


End file.
